Report of the Kansas Criminal Justice Reform Commission to the 2021 Kansas Legislature CHAIRPERSON: Marc Bennett VICE-CHAIRPERSON: Representative Stephen Owens OTHER MEMBERS: Senators David Haley and Rick Wilborn; Representative Gail Finney FACILITATOR: Reggie Robinson [until 9/19/20] NON-LEGISLATIVE MEMBERS: Chief Todd Ackerman, Jennifer Baysinger, Honorable Glenn Braun, Sheriff Bill Carr, Honorable Marty Clark, Professor John Francis, Chad Harmon [from 6/8/20], Spence Koehn [from 4/13/20], Chris Mechler [until 11/25/19],Tabitha Owen, Sylvia Penner, Bill Persinger, Professor Jean Phillips, Amy Raymond [from 11/25/19 until 4/13/20], Pastor Adrion Roberson, Brenda Salvati [until 6/8/20], Shelly Williams; Derek Schmidt, Attorney General (non-voting); Scott Schultz, Executive Director, Kansas Sentencing Commission (non-voting); and Jeff Zmuda, Secretary of Corrections (non-voting). CHARGE The Commission is directed by KSA 2019 Supp. 21-6902 to: ● Analyze the sentencing guideline grids for drug and nondrug crimes and recommend legislation to ensure appropriate sentences; ● Review sentences imposed for criminal conduct to determine proportionality compared to sentences for other criminal offenses; ● Analyze diversion programs and recommend options to expand diversion programs and implement statewide standards; ● Review community supervision levels and programming available for those serving sentences for felony convictions; ● Study and make recommendations for specialty courts statewide; ● Survey and make recommendations regarding available evidence-based programming for offenders in correctional facilities and in the community; ● Study Department of Corrections policies for placement of offenders and make recommendations for specialty facilities, to include geriatric, health care, and substance abuse facilities; ● Evaluate existing information management data systems and recommend improvements that will allow criminal justice agencies to more efficiently evaluate and monitor the efficacy of the criminal justice system; and ● Study other matters that, as the Commission determines, are appropriate and necessary to complete a thorough review of the criminal justice system. November 2020 Kansas Criminal Justice Reform Commission FINAL REPORT Conclusions and Recommendations The Commission adopted the following recommendations, organized into three groups. More complete recommendations may be found in the Conclusions and Recommendations section of the report at the end of the report. [Note: The numbering of recommendations is for ease of reference only and does not reflect priority order.] Recommendations for Legislation or Other Support by the Legislature: The Commission recommends the Legislature adopt legislation to accomplish or otherwise support the following: 1. SB 123 and diversion. Adopt legislation that includes the provisions of 2020 HB 2708, relating to drug abuse treatment for people on diversion; 2. Specialty courts. Require the Kansas Supreme Court to adopt rules for the establishment and operation of one or more specialty court programs within the state; 3. Identification certificate. Amend KSA 8-246 to add Court Services and Community Corrections agencies as entities authorized to provide an identification certificate; 4. Earned compliance. Adopt an initiative in support of earned compliance credit and the strengthening of early discharge mechanisms for people on supervision; 5. Supervision conditions. Create a work group to create standardized conditions of supervision; 6. Concurrent supervision. Create a work group to examine policy to consolidate concurrent supervision cases; 7. Effective responses to behavior. Support the formalization of the Kansas Department of Corrections' (KDOC’s) approach to parole and post-release supervision violations, including implementation of Effective Responses to Behavior; 8. Proportional penalties. Adopt legislation that includes the provisions of 2019 HB 2047, concerning decreasing the penalties in drug grid level 5 to be similar to those for nondrug grid level 8; 9. Tampering with an electronic monitoring device. Adopt legislation that includes the provisions of 2020 HB 2494, concerning unlawful tampering with an electronic monitoring device, and lowering the severity level from a level 6 nonperson felony to a level 8 nonperson felony; 10. Felony loss threshold. Adopt legislation that includes the provisions of 2020 HB 2485, concerning increasing the felony loss threshold from $1,000 to $1,500 on certain property crimes; Kansas Legislative Research Department 0-1 2020 Criminal Justice Reform Commission 11. Prior convictions - domestic violence. Adopt legislation that includes the provisions of 2020 HB 2518, concerning including prior convictions with a domestic violence designation as qualifying prior convictions with regard to domestic battery sentencing; 12. Pretrial substance abuse treatment. Adopt legislation that includes the provisions of 2020 HB 2708, concerning the implementation of pretrial substance abuse programs; 13. Compassionate release. Adopt legislation that includes the provisions of 2020 HB 2469, concerning implementation of an expanded compassionate release program; 14. Good-time credit. Adopt legislation that includes the provisions of 2020 HB 2484, concerning early discharge for non-violent drug offenders upon completion of 50 percent of the sentence; 15. Review of probation terms. Adopt legislation that includes the provisions of 2019 HB 2052, including amendments proposed by the Office of Judicial Administration, concerning judicial review of probation terms and conditions once 50 percent of the sentence has been served; 16. Data collection. Adopt a requirement that law enforcement agencies collect additional data related to the race of citizens with whom they have contact; 17. Legislative commission. Establish a standing legislative commission on racial equity in the criminal justice system and identify specific representative membership groups. 18. Data - housing. Adopt legislation that requires a consistent method of tracking persons in jails and prisons who are experiencing housing instability or are at risk of homelessness; 19. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Adopt legislation to amend KSA 39-709 to fully opt out of the federal ban on allowing persons with felony drug convictions to access benefits of the SNAP program; and 20. Drivers license reinstatement. Adopt legislation that includes the provisions of 2020 HB 2547 and 2020 SB 275 relating to driver's license reinstatement fees, and provide substitute or alternative funding to offset lost fee revenue. Recommendations to the Legislature or Other Appropriate Authority: The Legislature or other appropriate authority should consider or implement the following: 1. Data sharing. Consider issuing a request for proposal for a comprehensive assessment relating to the current state of data sharing across Kansas agencies; 2. Required diversion. Consider examining the use of diversion across the state and determine whether the public policy of the State should require diversion to be offered in each jurisdiction and, if so, determine whether diversion should be mandated for certain types of crimes for people with certain criminal history; 3. Pre-charging diversion. Consider a less-stringent diversion option, or even the possibility of a pre-charging diversion; 4. Diversion agreements sealed. Consider the modification of expungement statutes or other Kansas Legislative Research Department 0-2 2020 Criminal Justice Reform Commission approaches to address whether diversion agreements should be sealed from public view; 5. Indigent divertees. Consider methods of ensuring indigent diversion applicants have the same access to the process as non-indigent applicants; 6. Deferred adjudication. Consider a mechanism for deferred adjudication such that a court could require a plea as a condition of diversion; 7. Geriatric and cognitive care for inmates (KDOC). Consider authorizing funding and authority for the modification of an existing facility to provide approximately 200-250 male beds for geriatric and cognitive care; 8. Substance abuse treatment center (KDOC). Consider authorizing funding and authority for a substance abuse treatment center within the correctional facility system including funding and authority to build a substance abuse treatment center to provide 240 additional male beds for treatment; and funding and authority to allow the KDOC to continue repurposing and renovating an existing building to provide approximately 200-250 male beds for treatment; 9. Inpatient capacity. Consider adopting the recommendations of the Mental Health Task Force to the 2018 and 2019 Legislatures to implement and fund a comprehensive plan to address voluntary and involuntary hospital inpatient capacity needs while providing all levels of care across all settings; 10. Mental health services. Consider making access to local and regional community mental health services a legislative priority; 11. Co-occurring disorders. Consider the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center recommendations listed on pages 43 through 47 of the Appendix, concerning support of people with co-occurring disorders, cross-system coordination, data collection, and training and education for providers to support persons with co-occurring disorders; 12. Co-responder program. Implement and fund a statewide co-responder program, with consideration given to funding pilot programs initially; 13. Protective factors. Implement programs